¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pound salmon fillet* with skin on (¼” thick)

½ package (4oz) neem flower buds* (thaw & destem)

½ head red leaf lettuce

1 cucumber (sliced lengthwise into 8 strips)

½ pound bean sprouts

2 cups assorted herbs and mints

½ package (6oz) square vermicelli

8 sheets of 8.5”x8.5” rice paper

1 bottle (9.5oz) Angkor Tamarind dipping sauce

* Substitute with any protein

** Substitute with arugula or something bitter

Serving Suggestions

Serve with Angkor Tamarind dipping sauce and Chrouk Metae.  If not served right away, wrap each roll in saran wrap keep up to 2 hours.

Spring Rolls

Nhaim Chaow

Satisfying appetizer rolled in rice paper with neem flower buds (bitter taste), baked salmon strips, rice vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, assorted mint leaves.  Served with tamarind dipping sauce.  In Cambodia, this dish is served as main dish, with all ingredients placed on a large platter and everybody makes their own using lettuce as the wrap (no rice paper).  It is normally a harvest meal when the hot weather ripens the tamarind and the neem flowers are budding.m

Ingredients

Heat oven to 475°F.  Marinate salmon with oil and sea salt. BROIL salmon on middle rack for 10 minutes until the salmon is golden brown.  Cook vermicelli in 10 cups of boiling water for 45 seconds, rise in ice cold water, squeeze the water from the vermicelli. Lay them flat on a plate, set aside.

Submerge each sheet of rice paper in lukewarm water (105ºF) for 1 second; lift and let water drip off.  Place the wet rice paper on a small baking sheet, let the rice paper hangover the rim of the sheet (closest to you) about 1”.  

Place the following ingredients on the rice paper, in order: neem flower, two strips of salmon, vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, sprouts, herbs and mints.  Roll. Cut in half.

Directions

Yield:

Style:

Authentic Cambodian

8 servings

Level:

Medium

Total:

60 min (30 min prep)